An odd-looking plant with thin, staghorn-shaped green and white variegated leaves. We list it as a miniature houseplant since it can easily be used in small containers or dish gardens. It is tolerant of some neglect and quite easy to grow. It blooms, too!

Though still quite compact, our ‘stock’ plant is grown a bit larger (a 4 or 5″ pot). It is easily shaped by pruning stems when they get a bit long and woody. Flowers will appear on new growth in spring and fall.

Shown above is Episcia ‘Alice’s Aussie’ grown by Eirlys Rawcliffe. Eirlys emailed this photo with the message, “Have been ordering from your company for quite a while and am thrilled about all the plants I have received. Is there a place for customers to post pictures of plants on you website? I have an episcia that, IMHO, is quite spectacular”. We agree, and we’re posting your photo!

Not much! No shows in August, and no traveling! We’ll be staying home, growing plants. An unusually cool, wet, summer has kept us inside more than usual, but has been good for the plants.

Inventory updates:

Streptocarpus. Most varieties are again, or will be, in stock. We’ve had a lot of plants potted–just needed them to grow large enough to ship. You can also expect to see some new listings in the coming months. We’ll feature these in future newsletters.

Supplies. All sizes of leaf support rings are now back in stock. Though these aren’t necessary for most hobby growers, for those who wish to exhibit plants, or simply want to grow African violets as large specimens, these can be invaluable.

This month’s question:

Can I use my regular potting medium to root leaves?

Yes, though depending upon the consistency of the soil and your care of the cuttings, this may or may not be the best choice. African violets are easy to propagate from leaf cuttings, but doing it well (producing lots of plantlets quickly) takes some practice, and finding the right rooting medium is part of this. Much is simply experience from “trial and error”.There are many different recipes for rooting mediums. There is some general advice we can give, though.

Use a mix that is very porous and light, and keep it fairly loose in the pot when rooting leaves. You want to make it easy for the leaf to produce roots and for plantlets to make their way up to the surface. If the medium is too dense, or is packed, this will be more difficult and plantlets will be slower to appear. This usually means using plenty of vermiculite and/or perlite in the mix. How much? This depends upon how wet you plan to keep the mix–add more perlite the wetter you intend to keep it. Usually, this means something much lighter than your regular potting mix, but not necessarily so.

Dry soil can be difficult to work with, yet many growers choose to pot using soil this way. It makes potting and repotting messy and difficult. Then, once potted, the soil can be difficult to water–dry peat moss can tend to repel, rather than absorb, water.

Here’s what we do. Moisten the soil ahead of time. The day before you plan to do your potting, add hot water to the dry soil mix, at a rate of 1 part water to 4 parts soil, by volume. This will give the soil just enough moisture to hold together, yet not so much as to be muddy.

Musings:

Some thoughts while looking at some of our newest plants, that seem to have accumulated out of nowhere, and now wait to be dealt with. Like a grower of any size collection, it seems we’re always adding to it more than subtracting.

Ever wonder how we came to have so many different plants? Like you, we find many of our plants from other vendors–at the many shows we attend, from the catalogs and websites we are always looking through, or “bartered” from a friendly competitor.

Still others we import, or have sent to us from friends and growers we know in other countries. They know we’ll appreciate having the new material and also know that we provide a means of distributing some of their newest hybrids to a wider audience.

Being “plant people”, we also never miss an opportunity to visit a nearby (sometimes no so near) botanical garden, conservatory, garden center, etc. when we travel. Sometimes we’ll just stop to see what’s growing on the “side of the road”. As you likely have discovered, “plant people” like to share–much of the fun of growing a plant is sharing it with others who admire it. Many of our most interesting, and most of our favorite, plants were acquired this way–from friends and other growers.

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THE LATEST NEWS

Coronavirus update:
We continue to ship orders as normal!
However, as a precaution, the shop will be closed to visitors until further notice.

Because of the high volume of spring orders and our being short-staffed, shipment of orders may not be as prompt as usual. Please be patient.

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Plant Care and Other Posts

Plant Care and Other Posts

WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS SAY

From Peggy, in OH
Thanks so much for taking such great care with your packaging and shipping. The baby violets arrived today in good condition and I was thrilled to receive them. They will be loved and well cared for. Thanks Violet Barn. You have a customer for life. June 4, 2020

From Suzette, in PA
Just received my order was totally impressed with the packing and the condition of the plants! Thank you so much I look forward to seeing them grow and I will be ordering again. June 4, 2020

From Genevieve, in FL
Thank You so much for my recent order. Though, due to the prevailing shipping delays it took 7 rather than 2 or 3 days to get here, the plants arrived in perfect condition – amazing as they were wrapped up in the dark for over a week and came out perky and lovely. Your plants, packaging and care at every step are greatly appreciated. I am excited I have another order shipping next week! June 4, 2020

From Anna,
I ordered 6 Hoya starter plants from Violet Barn as a first time order. I was blown away by the meticulous packaging of the plants. They all arrived in pristine condition. Although small, as they are starter plants, they appear extremely healthy. I look forward to watching them grow. Notification was sent upon mailing and they arrived in two days. I look forward to more orders from Violet Barn. Very pleased. May 30, 2020